FILNER HIRES EX-COUNTY OFFICIAL AS CONSULTANT

San Diego 
Mayor Bob Filner has hired the county’s former top administrator as a consultant to guide him on good government practices.

Walt Ekard, who resigned as San Diego County’s chief administrative officer after 13 years on Dec. 1, has been working at City Hall for “a week or so” and has a three-month contract, Filner said.

“He’s consulting with me for improved governance and administrative procedures,” Filner said in an interview. “You know his background is the best in San Diego. He turned the county into a very efficient and responsive government thing. He’s advising me on how to do that in San Diego.”

Ekard has been widely praised for his fiscal discipline while leading the county, using tightfisted budgeting and multiyear spending plans to largely avoid fiscal turmoil gripping governments across the country.

The U-T San Diego inquired about Ekard’s status Tuesday after a reporter saw him on City Hall’s 11th floor where the Mayor’s Office resides. Ekard said he was “helping out around here” when asked why he was there.